Secrets & Lies
by shadowsinthestarlight
Summary: As the city of San Francisco continues to be plagued with homicides, the SFPD is hard at work keeping the city safe. But the drama also unfolds within the station as nearly everyone inside has a secret of some sort... Maltara with a side of Blairemy. Set after the events of volume 11, and Amy has returned to work in the crime lab.
1. Dangerous

**Chapter One: Dangerous**

"Fallon, get in here."

Detective Mal Fallon groaned as the harsh sound of Captain Charles Anders' voice filled the room. It had been a long day, and he had paperwork to write. He was in no mood for this.

"Captain, can this wait? I've got to finish this report…"

"Fallon. In. My. Office. NOW!" Anders yelled sharply.

"Okay, okay…" Mal sighed and got up from his desk. He traipsed over to Anders' office and sank down in a chair. "What is it?"

"I'm told you tracked Max Ostrem, the lead suspect in the Haight-Ashbury homicide, to Golden Gate Park earlier today, and then you shot him in broad daylight in the middle of the park?"

Mal sighed wearily. Sometimes it seemed as though Captain Anders loved nothing more than to yell at him. "Well, first off, Chuck, he wasn't just a suspect. I know he killed that girl. He fits Natara's profile to the letter, and we have eyewitnesses who saw him at the scene…"

"I believe my instructions were incredibly clear, Detective. I told you I did NOT want any more unnecessary casualties."

"This one was necessary," Mal declared. "He was pointing a gun directly at me and my partner! I only shot back to save our lives!"

"Even so, what did I tell you about creating a disturbance in public? Just once, can't you bring me back a suspect alive and in handcuffs?"

Mal sat up straighter in his chair. "Say what you will about what I did, Anders, but that man will never be on the streets again. And I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Elliott will sleep well at night knowing that their daughter's killer has been brought to justice."

Anders stared him down. "Even if I conceded that what you just said was true, it doesn't change the fact that your blatant disrespect for proper protocol has resulted in more deaths and more property damage than this city can afford to handle…"

Mal rolled his eyes. Not this again.

"Listen, Charles, you've said this to me a million times already. Can I just go finish the report now? It's been a long day."

"I'm warning you, Fallon." Anders glared at him. "If your behavior does not improve, I will not hesitate to put you on desk duty for as long as is necessary."

Mal gritted his teeth. "If I ever stop getting the job done, then you're free to do that." He got up and briskly left the room.

* * *

Special Agent Natara Williams sat at her desk, looking over the lab reports that Kai had just given her. She heard a door slam, then angry footsteps headed across the room. She looked up to see her partner, Mal Fallon, coming her way.

"Mal, what's wrong? Did you get yelled at by Anders again?"

Mal nodded. "You'd think that by now I wouldn't be bothered by it, considering how often it happens."

Natara gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know."

Mal sighed. "I got the guy. I did what had to be done."

Natara handed him the lab reports. "Well, on the bright side, Kai just came by with the results of the Marcie Elliott autopsy. Max Ostrem's DNA was found under her fingernails. It was a perfect match."

Mal glanced over the papers. "We got the right guy. Anders was yelling at me as though I had just shot an innocent man."

Natara gave him a look of understanding. "I know. We've had a long day. All you have to do is finish filing the report, and then you can go get some rest."

"Thanks. I think I can handle that." Mal gave her a small smile, then turned and headed back to his desk.

* * *

Later that night, at another desk, Detective Blaise Corso tapped furiously with her pencil while poring over evidence for what seemed like the millionth time. Three dead women so far. Probably more to come. She needed to find this killer, fast.

"It has to be here. It has to," Blaise said to herself, flipping through the papers. "There has to be a connection here. I just have to find it."

Her partner, Detective Jeremy Redbird, looked over her shoulder. "Blaise, you're wound so tight you're going to snap a string! You need to relax."

Blaise turned around and glared at him. "Do you want this bastard to kill another girl? Because I sure don't."

Jeremy glanced at the wall clock. "Blaise, it's after ten. Everyone on the day shift has already gone home. You've got to call it a night. I want to catch this guy as much as you do, but I need you at one hundred percent if we're going to do it."

Blaise had to stifle a yawn. She knew Jeremy was right. But she never liked to rest until a case was solved. Even if that meant she had to stay at the station all night.

"Come on, Blaise. Get some rest. Kai is doing the autopsy of the third vic tomorrow morning. If he finds something, you'll be the first to know."

Blaise sighed deeply. "All right."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mal got a beer out of the refrigerator and went back to recline on the couch. He opened the can and took a long, slow sip, savoring the taste in his mouth. He was exhausted. The events of the day replayed themselves in his mind, over and over again. He could almost hear Anders yelling at him again, as he reached for his remote control.

A soft knock sounded from outside the door of his apartment. He sighed instinctively, then smiled to himself as he got up to open the door.

"I'm here." Natara Williams stood in his doorway, purse slung over her shoulder, wearing the same suit she had worn to work earlier that day.

"I knew you'd make it." Mal smiled, then gestured for her to come in. He closed the door after her.

Natara put her purse down on the floor and slowly walked over to Mal. He looked deeply into her eyes, and then ran a hand down the side of her cheek.

"This is dangerous…" Natara whispered, gazing into Mal's blue eyes.

"I know," breathed Mal. "But no one will find out."

With that he wrapped his arms around her and started to kiss her deeply. He lightly caressed the back of her neck with his fingertips, and she softly moaned into the kiss.

"Oh Mal…" Natara pulled away and gave him a seductive smile. "Let's take this upstairs."


	2. Washed Ashore

**Chapter Two: Washed Ashore**

The shrill noise penetrated the silence of the night. Mal groaned and rolled over in bed, in a sleep-induced stupor. He tried to figure out what was happening, then soon realized his phone was ringing. He blindly fumbled around on his nightstand until his hand found what he was looking for.

"Mmmmmmph. I'm sleeping." Mal grumbled into the phone.

Anders' voice sounded loud and clear into his ear. "Fallon, we've got a body. You and Agent Williams need to get to the bay as soon as possible."

"It's four in the goddamn morning, Charles."

"It doesn't matter. We need you on the scene."

"Ugh. Fine." Mal sighed deeply. "I'll call Natara. We'll be there in twenty."

Mal hung up the phone and turned to Natara's sleeping body, lying next to him in bed. He lightly shook her shoulder.

"Nat, you've got to get up."

"Nnnnnhhh?" Natara mumbled something incomprehensible, then snuggled deeper into her pillow.

"Anders just called. They've got a body."

Natara's eyes fluttered open. A small smile spread across her face at the sight of Mal's tousled hair.

"Come on, Nat."

She threw off the covers and, stifling a yawn, climbed out of bed.

"How are we going to do this, Mal? We can't show up together. That's entirely too suspect."

"Good point." Mal thought for a moment. "Well, I told Anders I would call you, so it makes sense that I'd show up first." He ruffled through his closet, trying to find something presentable to wear. "I'll get going, then you can take your own car and leave five minutes later."

"That's fine." Natara looked around for her blazer, which had been haphazardly thrown on the floor during the heat of the moment last night. She smiled slightly at the memory, then sighed deeply. "Mal…"

Mal turned in her direction. A look of concern crossed his features as he saw the worried expression on her face. "Nat, what is it?" He went over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's Anders." Natara sighed. "If this got out somehow… If he found out… We'd never be allowed to work together again. He might even call Chief Blaire and have me shipped off back to Miami."

Mal kissed her softly on the lips. "We'll be fine, Nat." He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, then turned to his desk chair and picked up his briefcase. "I promise."

* * *

Mal slammed his car door shut and immediately headed toward the water, still somewhat lethargic from having been woken out of a deep sleep. He flashed his badge once he reached the police cordon and stepped over the yellow caution tape.

"All right, what have we got?"

Anders motioned to the corpse lying in front of him. "What you see is what you get, Fallon."

Mal stared. The decomposing body of a young girl lay washed up on the sand, with no apparent wounds or injuries. He could barely recognize her features, but he estimated that she was in her late teens or early twenties.

"By the looks of her, she's been in the water for about a week. Must have been washed up by the tide," said Anders.

Mal continued to examine the body and looked back up at Anders, narrowing his eyes. "Wait, Captain, something isn't clear to me," he said. "How do we know this was murder? Have we ruled out the possibility that it was a suicide?"

At that precise moment, Mal heard a car door slam, and footsteps coming toward him. He looked up to see Natara, dressed and neatly groomed, heading his way.

"Hey, Natara," said Mal. "We've got the body of a young girl here, washed up this morning. Have a look."

Natara kneeled in front of the body, examining it closely. "Well, this is interesting," she observed. "From what I can see, she's got no wounds, no visible injuries. We may not know if this is murder until after an autopsy is done."

Mal nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"As sad as it may be, every year there are suicides carried out by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. It's the most common suicide site in the world," said Natara.

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions, Agent," Anders warned her. "Just because she's got no visible injuries doesn't mean she wasn't murdered. It's possible she was poisoned."

"Like I said… We'll need a completed toxicology report to know for certain…" Natara started.

"Oh. My. God!" came a familiar voice, and everyone on the scene turned to see Forensic Specialist Kai Kalaba bounding happily over, looking much too chipper for such an early hour of the morning. "I heard we have a putrefied corpse in advanced stages of decay! I _love _looking at decomposing bodies. It's like those nature documentaries I always used to watch on the – "

"_Kai_," Mal grumbled. "Shut up and just do your lab geek stuff, would you?"

"Gladly." Kai leaned over the body. With one gloved hand, he slowly turned her over. "Oh. Oh wow. This chick looks like she's been in the water for over a week. Even if she _was _poisoned, it's possible that whatever chemical used to drug her might be out of her system by now."

Natara sighed. "Well, what _can_ you tell us?"

"Doesn't look like there were any signs of a struggle, either. I'm gonna have to do the autopsy before I can get any real evidence from this…"

Mal groaned. "Real helpful, Kalaba. Come on, Natara. Let's get over to the crime lab and see if Amy can help us get an ID on the vic."

* * *

In the basement of the police station, Data Analyst Amy Chen sat at her desk, typing furiously at her computer. It hadn't been easy to convince Captain Anders to re-hire her in the crime lab after she had quit her job earlier that year, but considering her impressive track record, it had become clear to him that she was the best person for the job. Although being in San Francisco still reminded her of the tragic death of her boyfriend, Detective Ken Greene, she knew that by working at the SFPD she was helping to make the world a better place. She paused and stared at her computer screen, waiting for the DNA sample to process.

"Now to cross-reference against Missing Persons…" she muttered to herself, working aloud.

The door to the crime lab opened, and Mal and Natara walked in. "Hey, guys!" Amy smiled at the sight of them.

"Hey, Amy. Tell me you've got something for us…" said Mal.

"Well, Kai's still working on the autopsy as we speak, but I'm currently processing a DNA sample from your victim so I can try to ID her. It should be done any second…"

Amy's computer dinged. "Let's take a look." She made a few clicks, and then the image of an attractive brunette girl came up on the screen.

"Her name's Emma Windsor. Sophomore at Strickland University, majoring in anthropology. Looks like she was reported missing by her roommate a few days ago…"

"I know that school," said Mal. "It's just outside the city. I wonder if she was on vacation here."

"Mal, it's not that far from here," Natara pointed out. "I think we should go have a talk with her roommate. Maybe that'll help us get an idea of exactly when she disappeared. Meanwhile, call me if you find anything else."

"Will do," Amy promised.

Mal looked at Natara. "Well, Nat… Looks like we're headed off to college."


End file.
